# 鳩間島 — 歌のふるさとの、ちいさな島。

> Unofficial island context guide. This is not an official publication, tourism authority, ferry operator, or accommodation provider. It lists no accommodation and no prices: island stays and eateries are routed to the Taketomi Town Tourism Association and official channels.

- Subject: Hatoma Island — the smallest inhabited island of the Yaeyama Islands (0.96 km2; about 3.9 km around; about 50 people) and the birthplace of the folk song "Hatoma-bushi": Hatoma-Nakamori and its 1948 lighthouse, Yarahama and the blue-coral community, the fukugi village, the lunar-June harvest festival with the deity Kamurama, and the via-Uehara route structure that governs cancellations
- Area: Taketomi Town, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
- Role: Provide verified island context before a traveler decides whether and how to cross to Hatoma, including the readiness an island with no shops asks of a visitor
- Verified: 2026-11-01 (web_search_result_corroboration: via web-search result titles and summaries, at summary level; the source pages themselves are not readable from this environment)
- Relationship: Independent project; not affiliated with or approved by Okinawa Prefecture, Taketomi Town, the tourism association, the ferry operators (Anei Kanko; Yaeyama Kanko Ferry), the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Ministry of the Environment, the music festival's organizing committee, or any public authority
- Language: A 9-language static HTML edition is available (ja/en/zh/ko/fr/ru/id/ms/es): Japanese (ja) uses unprefixed URLs; en/zh/ko/fr/ru/id/ms/es use language-prefixed URLs; this file and the JSON context are written in English by design, for machine consumption

## Use for

- Hatoma belongs to Taketomi Town, in the sea north of Iriomote Island, at the town's northern end; about 3.9 km around, 0.96 km2, about 50 people, the smallest inhabited island of the Yaeyama Islands, moved around mainly on foot (Taketomi Town; tourism association; Okinawa Prefecture)
- Hatoma is the birthplace of "Hatoma-bushi", a folk song representative of Yaeyama; Hatoma-Nakamori, sung of in the song, commands a sweeping view of Iriomote (Taketomi Town)
- The Hatoma Island Music Festival, begun in the yard of a private home, has been held around early May; the 28th edition took place on 2025-05-04, organized by its own committee — the page deliberately asserts no annual holding, no fixed date and no next edition
- Hatoma-Nakamori (33.8 m; kuba palms) is a town-designated natural monument (1972) and a component of the national historic site "Sakishima Islands Hibanmuri" (2007); the Hatoma Island Lighthouse (1948) stands there, with a lookout platform beside it (Taketomi Town; Agency for Cultural Affairs; tourism association)
- Beaches and sea: Yarahama on the west (wide, shallow; a sunset spot), Mae-no-hama (calm inside a breakwater), a blue-coral community off the north coast; the island is part of Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park, with the "Hatoma Island Barasu / Unarizaki" marine park zone designated in 2012 (tourism association; Ministry of the Environment)
- The harvest festival falls in the sixth lunar month, and Kamurama, a deity of descendants' prosperity, appears only on Hatoma (Taketomi Town; tourism association)
- Route structure: the regular ferry began in April 2006; direct sailings about 45-55 minutes, via Uehara about 70-80 minutes, Uehara-Hatoma 10-15 minutes; the Hatoma route is a via-stop of the Uehara route and is cancelled whenever the Uehara route is cancelled, on a route that crosses open sea (Taketomi Town; Anei Kanko; Yaeyama Kanko Ferry)
- There are no shops on the island: food and drink are prepared before boarding, eateries checked in advance, inn meals confirmed at booking (tourism association)
- Cancellation-structure questions go to ../kaze/; the Uehara-side journey to ../iriomote/; gateway connections to ../ishigaki/

## Do not use for

Current ferry schedules, fares or same-day operating status; the music festival's next date or whether it will be held in any given year; inn, eatery or accommodation listings, prices, availability or booking; sea conditions, weather or swimming-safety judgments; or endorsement claims. The day-trip time constraint, the extra-night resolve and the cash-and-provisions advice are editorial readings, not quotations.

## Editorial scope

Island facts are summary-level statements confirmed by 2026-11-01 via web-search result corroboration (web_search_result_corroboration — result titles and summaries). The island outline summarizes Taketomi Town and the tourism association; the area summarizes an Okinawa Prefecture remote-islands document; Hatoma-bushi, the harvest festival, the 2006 ferry start and the "Ruri no Shima" setting (2005) summarize Taketomi Town and OCVB sites; Nakamori's designations summarize Taketomi Town and the Agency for Cultural Affairs; the lighthouse, beaches, blue coral, Kamurama and the "no shops" advice summarize the tourism association; the national-park facts summarize the Ministry of the Environment; the route facts summarize Anei Kanko and Yaeyama Kanko Ferry. Crossing times are deliberately given as ranges because sources differ. Scenery descriptions and passages on how to spend the day are editorial.

## Resources

- Machine-readable context: ./ai-context.json
- Discovery service: ../
- Wind and cancellations: ../kaze/
- Iriomote guide: ../iriomote/
- Gateway Ishigaki: ../ishigaki/
- Other island guides: ../taketomi/, ../kohama/, ../hateruma/, ../kuroshima/
- Taketomi Town, Hatoma Island (Hatoma-bushi; harvest festival; Ruri no Shima): https://www.town.taketomi.lg.jp/about/hatoma/
- Taketomi Town Tourism Association, Hatoma model course (about 3.9 km around; no shops; Kamurama; lookout platform): https://painusima.com/modelcourse_hatoma/
- Taketomi Town Tourism Association, Hatoma Island Lighthouse (built 1948): https://painusima.com/808/
- Taketomi Town Tourism Association, Yarahama (west side; sunset spot): https://painusima.com/803/
- Anei Kanko, Uehara (Hatoma) route timetable (time ranges; linked cancellation): https://aneikankou.co.jp/timetable/detail/5
- Yaeyama Kanko Ferry, operation information (Uehara-Hatoma 10-15 min): https://yaeyama.co.jp/operation.html
- Taketomi Town, list of cultural properties (Hatoma-Nakamori, town natural monument): https://www.town.taketomi.lg.jp/administration/bunkazai/
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, national cultural properties database, Sakishima Islands Hibanmuri: https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/401/00003535
- Ministry of the Environment, Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park (park area; marine park zone): https://www.env.go.jp/park/iriomote/intro/index.html
- Taketomi Town event calendar, 28th Hatoma Island Music Festival: https://www.town.taketomi.lg.jp/calendar/1682562494/
- Okinawa Prefecture, remote-islands document (area 0.96 km2): https://www.pref.okinawa.lg.jp/_res/projects/default_project/_page_/001/019/068/dai1syou.pdf